The Newark Public Library: A Brief History

THE NEWARK PUBLIC LIBRARY: A BRIEF HISTORY
By Bruce E. Ford
The Newark Public Library was established by
referendum in 1887 and opened its doors in 1889.
Library service in Newark did not begin with the
establishment of a free public library, however. The
antecedents of the Newark Public Library can be traced

1 The public library acquired its

to colonial times.
first building from its immediate precursor, the Newark
Library Association;* and--at least for a decade--books
acquired from the association constituted a major part
of its collection.

Frank P. Hill served as librarian” from 1889-1901.

His better-known successor, John Cotton Dana,

frequently receives credit for accomplishments that

‘Julia Sabine, "Antecedents of the Newark Public
Library: A Study of Books and Readers in Newark, 1666-
1889" (Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Chicago, 1946)

‘The Newark Library Association, a stock company,
founded in 1847, operated a subscription library.
Subscribers supported the erection of "Library Hall,"
which eventually became the first home of the public
library.

a Suntil the 1930s the title "librarian" was used to
designate the head of an institution. Later it came to
be used for any library school graduate, and heads of
libraries assumed the title "director."

1

were, in fact, his. He organized the institution
solidly. Its new acquisitions were fully cataloged on
the day that it opened, and within a few years the
books it had acquired from the Newark Library
Association were also cataloged and classified. He
developed the "Newark Charging System," a method of
circulation control used with only slight modification
in the majority of American public libraries until the
advent of automation. Under his leadership the library
in 1892 granted the public unrestricted access to all
stacks except those housing fiction. "The Newark
Public Library is one of the three large libraries
where this boon is granted," he observed. "The others

"ź During the library's

are Minneapolis and Cleveland.
first year of operation he established a "Bureau of
Information":
...a department of our library that may be
looked upon as one of its leading features.
It is the duty of the attendant to answer, or
try to answer, all questions; give assistance

to readers and students; where possible to

guide the reading of the young, and in

‘Fourth Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of

the Free Public Library, Made to the Honorable, the

Board of Alderman of the City of Newark, N.J. (Newark:
Free Public Library, 1892), 40.

2

general to see that no one leaves the library

in a dissatisfied frame of mind.”
From the start the library cooperated actively with the
schools of the city. The first Annual Report indicates
that teachers brought classes to visit the Library® and
that Reference Department assistants compiled book
lists for their use.’ "Traveling libraries" were first
installed in schools in 1901. "One classical and one
scientific library were provided for the high School,"
reported Clara Whitehill Hunt, the assistant in charge
of work with children, "and four general libraries of
fifty books each for the grammar grades."® During
Hill's tenure the library also made an initial effort
at outreach, establishing delivery stations at numerous
points throughout Newark,’ placing collections of
twenty volumes in fire houses, compiling lists of books

about timely topics and publishing them in newspapers,

-rirst and Second Annual Reports of the Board of
Trustees of the Free Public Library, made to the

Honorable, the Board of Aldermen of the City of Newark,
N.J (Newark 1889 & 1890), 9.

Sibid., 16-17.
ibid., 17-18.

SReport of the Librarian of the Newark, N.J., Free
public Library, 1889-1901. (Newark 1901), 17.

*Third Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of
the Free Public Library, Made to the Honorable, the

Board of Aldermen of the City of Newark, N.J. (Newark
1891), 16ff.

distributing relevant booklists to manufacturing
concerns, and allowing free use of a lecture hall for
university extension work. '° When the library opened
in 1889, its collections already included books in
languages other than English.'' By 1901 they included
books in French, German, Italian, Polish, and
Lithuanian.

The library's collections and program of service
quickly outgrew its first quarters. By 1892 Hill was
already calling for the construction of a new

3 The trustees held a design competition to

building.’
select the architect, and the Philadelphia firm of
Kellogg and Rankin submitted the winning design. The
new structure, located on Washington Street and
designed in the style of an Italian Renaissance
alazzo, was dedicated on March 14, 1901.
Frank Hill resigned from his position as librarian

in May 1901, and the trustees appointed Beatrice

Winser, who had joined the staff in 1889 and served as

Report of the Librarian ... 1889-1901, 33.

"Beatrice Winser, who in 1894 became assistant
librarian, was engaged as a French and German cataloger
in 1889. See Beatrice Winser, 1869-1947 (Newark 1948),
4.

Report of the Librarian ... 1889-1901, 33.

Fourth Annual Report, 43-45.

a

assistant librarian since 1894, to serve as acting
librarian.

John Cotton Dana's tenure as librarian began on
January 15, 1902. His first innovation appears to have
been the establishment of a pay-duplicate collection,
about which he wrote,

Owing to the constantly increasing demand for

the latest novel, a demand which no library

can afford to supply, it was decided to try

here an experiment which has been successful

in many other cities. Duplicates or extra

copies of popular novels are bought and

placed in a special bookcase to be lent at
one cent per day..."

During his first year as librarian he also
established a picture collection, which is still in
existence and is still heavily used. of this Kate
Louise Roberts, an assistant in the Reference
Department, wrote:

.. Many thousands of illustrations, taken

from periodicals of France, Germany, England,

and America, have been sorted into several

hundred groups by topics and placed in

“Fourteenth Annual Report of the Board of

Trustees of the Free Public Library Made to the

Honorable the Board of Aldermen of the City of Newark,
N.J. (Newark, 1902), 17.

manilla folders. Their use by students and

teachers has increased encouragingly. The

collection begins to meet the needs of the

school room by supplying interesting

illustrations for history, mythology,

geography, nature study, and other

subjects.”

A program of bibliographic instruction for eighth
graders was introduced in 1904."

In 1906 the library became a depository for U.S.
government publications and patents."

Dana's unwillingness to be constrained by
convention was manifested in his decision to move the
18

Reference Department to the Delivery Room. This

DPifteenth Annual Report of the Board of Trustees
of the Free Public Library Made to the Honorable the

Board of Aldermen of the City of Newark, N.J (Newark,
1903), 31

sixteenth Annual Report of the Board of Trustees
of the Free Public Library Made to the Honorable the

Board of Aldermen of the City of Newark, N.J. (Newark
1904), 20-21.

Eighteenth Annual Report of the Board of
Trustees of the free Public Library Made to the

Honorable the Board of Aldermen of the City of Newark,
N.J. (Newark 1906), 12.

’eifteenth Annual Report, 30. The Information
bureau, which assisted the public with the use of
circulating materials, was already located in the
"Delivery Room," which was later re-named the "Lending
Department."

decision has affected the organization of the library
ever since. The same personnel who have assisted the
public with the use of reference materials have helped
patrons select and locate circulating materials.”
Furthermore, circulating subject collections have been
located as close to corresponding reference collections
as possible.

Dana replaced the Library News, the library
newsletter started by Hill, with The Newarker, a
publication that related the work of the library to the
life of the city.“

In 1904 the library's first branch was established
in rented quarters on Academy Street. Heavy use by
businessmen prompted Dana to transform it into a
"business branch" stocked with directories and other
information sources especially useful to them. This
business branch,’ was the first publicly-supported

business library in the United States and served as a

°see Catherine Van Dyne, "The Organization and
Work of the Lending Department, the Newark Public
Library," Library Quarterly XI:1 (January 1941), 69-84.

prank Kingdon, John Cotton Dana: A Life (Newark:
Public Library and Museum, 1940), 91.

‘lithe "Business Branch" was re-named the "Business
Library" in 1944. Its names was changed to "The Newark
Public Library Business Information Center" in 1989
when the library director, Alex Boyd, discovered that
some who used the facility were not aware of its
connection with the Newark Public Library.

7

model for many established elsewhere. Through an
arrangement between the public library and the Clark
Thread Company. a library that the company had run for
its employees became the public library's second branch
in 1905. Six branches, all housed in rented quarters,
were established within a few years, but these were all
closed in 1918 because the city's appropriation had not
kept pace with rising costs. The Business Branch alone
remained in operation. During the decade following
World War I eight branches were established in city-
owned buildings designed expressly for use as branch
libraries, and the Business Branch moved to a permanent
city-owned site at 34 Commerce Street. Dana's ideas

? were evident in the design

about library architecture’
of all these buildings.”
Dana broke new ground in the fields of advertising
and public relations. He successfully promoted use of
the library by segments of the population that had
previously used it very little, including
entrepreneurs, tradesmen, and immigrants who spoke

little English. Strategically placed billboards

bearing the text, "Who knows? Your library knows. Ask

-‘Tohn Cotton Dana, "Library Problems," Libraries:
Addresses and Essays (White Plains: H.W. Wilson, 1916)

seleanor Shane, comp. The Nine Branch Libraries

of the Public Library of Newark, N.J. (Newark: Public
Library, 1930)

it," brought the institution's information services to
the attention of those who saw the library as little
more than a repository for novels. He persuaded
merchants to display library advertisements in shop
windows. He adopted the strategy of drawing working
class parents into the library through their children.
Moving picture trailers were used to reach children not
attracted through school visits.”

His commitment to library promotion coupled with
his lifelong interest in printing prompted him to
acquire a small printing press for the library. The
quality of the promotional materials (as well as myriad
book lists and other publications) produced on this
press set a standard still worthy of emulation.

Dana was the consummate politician. He won
approbation from almost all the varied constituencies
holding power in the city and thereby insured financial
support for the library's expanding program of service.
Since his time the city has continued to support the
library generously, even if not always adequately.

Throughout his tenure as librarian he concerned
himself primarily with external relations and with
major questions of policy, leaving the administration

of the library's routine affairs to the assistant

“shane, op. cit., 13.

librarian, Beatrice Winser. Winser had sole charge of
the recruitment, training, and deployment of personnel.
She was also responsible for management of the physical
plant. Upon Dana's death in 1929, she was chosen as
his successor. Marguerite Gates, head of the Lending
Department, succeeded Winser as assistant librarian.

Two additions to the main library building were
completed in 1931, the smaller accommodating workspaces
for the staff and a sorely-needed stack elevator, the
larger accommodating reference materials and seating
for the public. These additions were utilitarian in
design and devoid of the architectural detail evident
in most parts of the original structure.

Because of her predecessor's fame, Winser's
accomplishments are often overlooked. The stock market
crash of 1929 occurred within two months of her
appointment as librarian, and the Great Depression that
followed brought both unprecedented demand for library
materials and services and declining financial support.
Under her leadership the library succeeded in meeting
this demand. The book collection doubled in size, and
circulation reached an all-time high, even though hours

had to be reduced, bookmobile service--just introduced-

10

-had to be eliminated,” and the deterioration of the
main building necessitated both the shifting of
departments and the temporary relocation of the Art and
Music Department and the Children's room to leased
quarters in the Newark Museun.

Winser was, clearly, an iron-handed micro-manager.
She left behind hundreds of "Notices" to the staff,
covering not only clerical procedures but also every
aspect of staff dress and deportment. She did,
however, maintain personal contact with employees at
all levels, and whether because of her authoritarianism
or in spite of it, she secured their cooperation.

In 1931 she introduced the Dickman Charging
System--a mechanically-assisted variant of Hill's
original Newark Charging System, which speeded book
charging and eliminated transcription errors but also
lessened the library's control over delinquent
borrowers.”

In 1938 she established a New Jersey collection,

which eventually developed into the New Jersey

Reference Division.

Julia Sabine, "Winser, Beatrice (1869-1947)"

Dictionary of American Library Biography, Ed. Bodhan S.
Wynar (Littleton, Colo. 1978), 567.

‘rhe Dickman system eliminated the use of a
"reader's card," which indicated to staff that a
borrower had outstanding loans and made it easy to
prevent delinquents from borrowing more books.

11

In 1942 she established a War Information Center
at the library "to provide information and materials
about new agencies, regulations, and appointments as
well as job training manuals to industries and groups
in the city and surrounding areas. "”

In the same year Winser tendered her resignation,
charging the trustees with interference in the
administration of the library. She firmly believed
that the function of trustees was "not to do the job
but to get it done." Three decades earlier, when she
had served on the Newark Board of Education, she had
resigned because of that board's refusal to delegate
what she considered sufficient administrative authority

? Her resignation

to the superintendent of schools.’
from the library bitterly divided the staff. Some
employees applauded her for resisting what they viewed
as politically-motivated interference. Others believed
that after half a century of service she had come to
view the library as her personal domain, to be managed

according to her own prejudices, and that she had given

the board just cause to monitor her decisions about

‘Julia Sabine, "Winser, Beatrice (1869-1947) ,"
567.

BBeatrice Winser, 1869-1947, 5.

Beatrice Winser (1869-1947), 5.
12

personnel very closely.” Her departure marked the end
of an era; for Winser had joined the staff the year the
library opened and had played a major role in its
management almost from the beginning.

Marguerite Gates, the assistant librarian,
resigned along with Winser but agreed to serve as
acting librarian until a new librarian was appointed.
Catherine Van Dyne, head of the Lending Department,
assisted Gates in the administration of the library
during the interim.

The appointment of John Boynton Kaiser as
librarian in 1943 brought drastic change in way the
organization was managed. Until his arrival the
administration of the library had been highly
centralized. Winser had maintained personal contact
with members of the staff at all levels, and matters so
trivial as an employee's request for a schedule change
had been referred to her. Kaiser delegated to the
heads of departments many decisions that had formerly

been reserved to the librarian or assistant librarian

several Irish-surnamed trustees had been
appointed to the board in 1941 and, according to Helen
DeVita, Julia Sabine, and Miriam Studley, who had been
library employees at the time, Winser's dispute with
the board concerned an Irish-surnamed employee.
Several months after her resignation Winser wrote ina
letter (found in the files of the Newark Museum), "the
Catholic Church has seized the public library just as
it seized the public schools."

13

and established rather formal and distant relations
with rank and file employees.

His greatest accomplishments lay in field of staff
development.

Dana had been skeptical of professional
credentials for library workers. He had argued that
until libraries could offer higher pay, librarianship
would attract only the mediocre, and that library
schools could accomplish little with those students
they could attract.°' Winser had never hesitated to
assign professional responsibilities to "assistants"
who had not attended library school; but during the
1930s the movement toward establishment of professional
credentials for librarians had gained considerable
momentum, and Kaiser believed that those who exercised
professional responsibilities ought to have
professional training.

Furthermore, the salaries which the library paid
were very low. The institution had weathered the
Depression partly at the expense of the staff. In
1932, for example, staff salaries had been reduced by

15 per cent. With the outbreak of World War II wages

“Tetter to the editor in Library Journal 49 (10):
492 (May 15, 1924). Reprinted in Carl A. Hanson, ed.
Librarian at Large: Selected Writings of John Cotton
Dana (Washington, D.C.: Special Libraries Association,
1991), 102-103.

14

had. begun to rise dramatically, and the library's pay
scale had not kept pace with changes in the economy.

Kaiser's tasks, therefore, were (1) to
differentiate "assistants" who did professional work
from those whose work was confined to clerical tasks,
(2) to encourage those who did professional work to
obtain appropriate professional credentials, (3) to
raise salaries of all employees, providing appropriate
salary differentials for professional librarians. He
accomplished all these tasks within a few years.

The position classification that he established
for the library distinguished "librarians" from
"library assistants," and soon after its adoption the
title of the institution's chief executive officer was
changed from "librarian" to "director."

After the war Kaiser was able to turn his
attention to the main library building, which was
overcrowded and in disrepair. He delegated
responsibility for renovation of the building to his
assistant director, James E. Bryan.

The renovation carried out under Bryan's direction
created space for 200,000 more books and provided
seating for 400 patrons--double the number that could

be accommodated previously.” It provided

“(James E. Bryan], "History of the Newark Public
Library" (Unpublished typescript, 1988?)

15

accommodation for the Art and Music Department and the
Children's Room, which had been housed temporarily at
the Newark Museum. It made possible an arrangement of
library departments that was logical and convenient.
It drastically improved lighting, heating, and
ventilation. It was carried out with more solicitude
for the architectural integrity of the building than
most renovations of the period; but preservationist
values held little sway in the early 1950s, and from a
present-day perspective it seems heavy-handed. A
monumental center staircase was removed from the
central cortile. Handsome coffered ceilings were
covered with acoustical tile so that fluorescent lights
could be installed. Fluorescent lights were hung
throughout the building. Blond-finished desks and
furnishings were placed in virtually every room,
including the cortile.

The reorganization of the Lending and Reference
Department accompanied the renovation. The Department
was divided into five subject divisions: Science and
Technology, Social Science and Labor, New Jersey,

Popular Reading, and General Reference.”

Renamed (more accurately) "Humanities" in 1974.

16

The Depression and the war had curtailed library
publishing. The Power of Print, a four-year report
covering the years 1942-1945, was published in 1946.
In contrast with the staid reports published earlier,
this publication included graphs and cartoons as well
as many anecdotes illustrating the many kinds of
service that the library had provided to patrons,
particularly during the war. Another report, At Your

2? covering the years 1943-1957, was published

Service,
at the time of Kaiser's retirement in 1958. NPL News,
a library newsletter intended primarily for staff, was
published for several years, as was Personnel Reporter,
an organ that explained Civil Service regulations and
library personnel policies to the staff. Several
bulletins published at regular intervals replaced the
booklists that had previously been published
irregularly: Business Literature, Technology in Print,
Labor in Print, and Education in Print.”

Upon Kaiser's retirement in 1958, James E. Bryan
became director. At the same time Kaiser's other

assistant director, J. Bernard Schein, who had been in

“compiled by Alexander S. Crosby and Carols S.
Simon (Newark 1946)

written and designed by Alexander L. Crosby
(Newark 1958)

sat Your Service, 6.

17

charge of personnel and technical services, was given
the title of Deputy Director.

Bryan's appointment occurred a few months after
the launching of Sputnik--an event that many Americans
viewed with alarm, supposing that it proved that the
Soviet Union had surpassed the United States in
scientific acumen. The public indicted American
schools for lack of rigor, especially in the fields of
science and mathematics. School curricula were
overhauled. More challenging courses at all levels--
from elementary school through college--sent students
to libraries in record numbers. At the same time
television was reducing the demand for light fiction.
For the first time in the history of the institution,
fiction accounted for only 25 per cent of the adult

3’ studies conducted in the library

circulation.
revealed that the questions answered by reference
librarians were growing more complex and that answering
them often required use of periodicals and primary
sources.” Demand for science and technology materials
soared.” The library altered its collection

development practices to meet new demands.

"Bryan, op. cit.

18

No other public library in New Jersey had
comparable resources. During Christmas vacation and
spring vacation, college students, many from the
suburbs, filled the building beyond its capacity and
overtaxed the staff. Individuals all over New Jersey
used the library's telephone reference services
regularly.

Bryan had a genuine professional interest in
improving library service to all New Jersey residents.
He also recognized that the Newark Public Library was,
in fact, a statewide resource that was supported almost
exclusively by the city of Newark. Consequently, he
participated actively in the development of the New
Jersey Library Network. The establishment of this
network brought official recognition of the Newark
Public Library's statewide role. Along with the
libraries of Princeton and Rutgers Universities and the
New Jersey State Library, the Newark Public Library was
funded by the state--albeit minimally--for functioning
as a research library. It was also compensated for
serving as the Metropolitan Reference Center for
northern New Jersey and as the Area Library for
adjacent municipalities. Accordingly, an Interlibrary

Services Division was established in 1968.°° The

Bryan, op. cit.
19

library also began producing a bi-weekly list of its
acquisitions for distribution to Area Libraries
throughout New Jersey, and in 1971 the card catalog was
microfilmed, and copies of it were similarly
distributed.

The library responded to demographic change in the
city by making an intensive effort to acquire materials
in all disciplines relating to the African American
experience. To help other New Jersey libraries with
the identification and acquisition of these materials
it began regular publication of the "Black Studies
List."

Bryan retired unexpectedly in 1972 because his
wife had become terminally i11.*’ J. Bernard Schein,
the deputy director, succeeded him. William Urban, the
head of the Lending and Reference Department, became
the assistant director.

Schein had begun his professional career as a
branch librarian, and his primary interest appears to
have been in community library services. Under his
leadership the library opened two storefront "sub-
branches" in neighborhoods not well served by existing
branches. Library employees traveled to parks and

public housing complexes in a van called the "Roving

“writer's personal recollection of a conversation
with Bryan.

20

Reader" and presented programs--some involving music
and storytelling--in an effort to encourage use of the
library. Other efforts at promotion included radio
announcements and bumper stickers identifying the
Newark Public Library as "The Best Bargain in Town."
Upon Schein's retirement in September 1977,
William Urban, who was nearing retirement age himself,
became director. John R. Abram, head of the Lending
and Reference Department, became assistant director.
Computer technology entered the library during
Urban's brief tenure. The new state librarian, Barbara
Weaver, was eager for the Newark Public Library to
become an ocLc’* member, so that other New Jersey
libraries would have electronic access to its holdings;
and the State Library offered to absorb start-up costs
through a grant. Urban appointed a staff committee to
study the advantages and disadvantages of OCLC
membership. The committee reported that the advantages
were significant and that any attendant difficulties

could be overcome. At Urban's urging the trustees

*2ocLC (originally "Ohio College Library Center";
later "Online Computer Library Center") is a consortium
that maintains the largest bibliographic data base in
the world. This data base is used for cataloging,
bibliographic searching, and resource sharing. When a
library catalogs an item on OCLC its ownership of the
item catalog is recorded in the data base, which
functions as a union catalog for the nation.

21

accepted the grant, and in September 1979 the library
began cataloging on OCLC.

His retirement, like that of Winser in 1942,
marked the end of an era; for he and his two
predecessors had all worked under Kaiser's direction
and had participated in the re-shaping of the library
that Kaiser had initiated. Upon his departure Abram
was appointed acting director, and the search for a new
director began. This search led to the appointment of
Thomas J. Alrutz as the library's eighth director in
September 1979.

Alrutz brought a fresh perspective to the
institution. His grasp of issues in librarianship was
impressive. He was very active in professional
organizations and kept abreast of the literature.

He tried to foster innovation through staff
development. To encourage staff participation in
professional conferences, he persuaded the board to
appropriate money for staff travel and continuing
education; and many more employees began to attend the
annual conferences of A.L.A. and N.J.L.A. In-service
training sessions, covering such topics as
intercultural relations, merchandising, and security,
were held in the library.

He supported automation initiatives. Under his

leadership the library obtained two L.S.C.A. grants for

22

retrospective conversion of its catalog to machine-
readable form. In 1985 the card catalog was frozen and
supplanted by a Computer Output Microfiche catalog.
(This catalog was understood from the beginning as a
stop-gap, pending the development of an online
catalog.) The use of online information sources for
reference work also began during his directorship.

He encouraged a review of the library's cataloging
and classification practices. With the publication of
the Library of Congress catalog of printed cards” in
the 1940s, most large libraries had abandoned
idiosyncratic local cataloging practices in favor of
L.C. practice, incurring short-term costs to achieve
long-term savings from standardization. The Newark
Public Library had not. The library had ignored three
revisions of the Dewey Decimal Classification. With
the passing of time cataloging and classification had
grown increasingly labor-intensive, because the
discrepancies between L.C. practice and Newark practice
had grown wider, and L.C. copy required an increasing
amount of modification to be brought into conformity
with Newark practice. In some points Newark practice

was not only idiosyncratic but indefensible. Virtually

‘3A Catalog of Books Represented by Library of

Congress Printed Cards Issued to July 31, 1942 (Ann
Arbor: Edwards Bros., 1942-1946)

23

all materials about African Americans, for example,
were classified in 326, the number proper to slavery as
a political institution. Economies from use of OCLC
could not be realized if copy had to be edited
extensively. With full support from Alrutz the newly-
appointed head of the Catalog Department made radical
changes, and the library embraced standardization
wholeheartedly.

The establishment of a Job Information Center in
the Education Division met an obvious public need and
generated activity in an underutilized division of the
library.

Alrutz was greatly concerned about the percentage
of the library's budget devoted to salaries. He
believed that the library was overstaffed and that
inflated personnel costs were partly attributable to an
unnecessary proliferation of service desks. A budget
crisis in 1982, which required the layoff of 82

“4 resulted in a permanent

"provisional" employees,
reduction of personnel expenditures, since not all who

had been laid off were re-hired. In the matter of

444 e., those who did not have permanent Civil
Service appointments.

24

consolidation he considered many ideas but implemented
only one: the merger of the Art and Music divisions.”

Alrutz perceived a need to change the library's
organization plan, which had been altered very little
since Kaiser's time. He believed that far too many
managers reported directly to him and that another
administrative "layer" was needed. He moved
cautiously, and the plan that he eventually introduced
was, by his own assessment, less than ideal; but it
did reduce to three the number of people reporting
directly to the director.

Alrutz was eager to delegate increased
responsibility to middle managers. His ideas about
participative management were, however, at odds with
entrenched institutional culture. When Kaiser had
decentralized the administration of the library in the
1940s, he had delegated authority over routine matters
to department heads; but the kind of responsibility
that Alrutz wanted them to assume was broader.
Confusion and disagreement about the amount of

authority they were to exercise persisted throughout

his tenure.

“The Art and Music Department had always been a
single administrative entity. This consolidation was
physical, not administrative.

460-iter's recollection of numerous conversations
with Alrutgz.

25

Despite his ability and dedication, his success in
mobilizing the staff for change was limited, and he
failed to communicate effectively with the trustees.

He tendered his resignation in February 1987.

The trustees were convinced that the library had
administrative problems which ought to be examined by a
management consultant during the search for a new
director. Consequently, they engaged Thomas A. Banker,
who had recently resigned from his position as
Assistant Business Administrator of the city of Newark,
to serve as interim administrator of the library.

Emily J. Matonti, head of the General Reference and
Collections Department,’ was designated as his first
assistant. Banker met with Alrutz for several days.
The two communicated amiably, and Banker adopted a
number of Alrutz's goals as his own.

In consultation with members of the administrative
staff he reviewed the allocation of space in the main
library building as well as the library's organization
chart. He re-located "popular" collections to the
first floor. He also oversaw the restoration of the

Popular Reading Room on the second floor, which was re-

“The Lending and Reference Department was re-
named the General Reference and Collections Department
when Alrutz's reorganization plan was adopted.

26

“8 and thereafter used for

opened as "Centennial Hall'
programs and receptions. He devised an organization
chart that divided the library into seven departments,
each overseen by an assistant director. One of these
was the new Development Department, which was to assume
responsibility for fundraising and public relations.

When his twice-renewed contract expired in March
1988, Banker left the library. Charles F. Cummings was
appointed acting director, and Bruce E. Ford was
designated as his first assistant. The two oversaw the
implementation of some of Banker's plans as the
trustees! search for a new director continued.

On November 14, 1988, Alex Boyd became the
library's ninth director.

His immediate priorities included improvement of
staff morale, development of esprit de corps within the
administrative ranks, establishment of good relations
with city government, improvement of the physical
plant, development of more satisfactory accounting
procedures, and improvement of security.

Within the first few months of his tenure he
reorganized the Finance Department and removed the
personnel office from its jurisdiction. He placed the

maintenance staff, the engineers, the security guards,

41988 was, of course, the centennial of the
establishment of the library.

27

the carpenters, and the painters under the direction of
the newly-appointed assistant director for Personnel
and Physical Plant. He refined Banker's allocation of
staff.

Boyd established congenial relations with library
unions. He was rather liberal in approving
promotions recommended by assistant directors. He
recognized the importance of salaries in attracting
competent employees to the library, and with the
backing of the trustees he negotiated labor contracts
that the unions considered favorable.

He saw to completion the renovation of the
Springfield branch, which had begun during the interin,
and then initiated the renovation of the Weequahic
branch. Aware that the renovation of all the library's
branches would take more than a decade, he instituted a
program of refurbishment in those branches awaiting
renovation. All were painted, carpeted, and put into
good repair.

He then turned his attention to the principal
service areas of the main building. These were
painted, carpeted, completely refurnished, and rescued
from the aesthetic effects of the 1950s renovation.

The renovation of the North End branch followed.

Relations between the unions and Banker and Ford
had been stormy.

28

To meet the special needs of the ethnic groups
that constituted the majority of Newark's population,
he established the Sala Hispanoamericana and the
African American Room. The Sala houses all the
library's Spanish-language materials; and although
every subject collection in the library abounds in
material relating to the African American experience,
the community has responded enthusiastically to the
establishment of a multi-disciplinary collection of
popular African American materials.

A Special Services Room has been established to
provide convenient access to services and materials
needed by people with special needs. A Career
Information Center (with facilities for resume writing)
is housed in this room along with materials for
literacy instruction and for learning English as a
second language as well as materials for use by the
handicapped.

Under Boyd's leadership the library has made
further progress in automation. A Dynix integrated
library system was installed in 1990 and went into
operation in 1991. An increasing number of electronic
information sources have been acquired to supplement
and supplant printed materials used in reference work.

Boyd, like Hill and Dana, has placed great

emphasis on public programs and exhibitions. He views

29

them not only as a means of encouraging use of library
materials, but as a legitimate educational activity in
their own right.

Prior to coming to Newark he served as the Chicago
Public Library's development officer, and he has
remained intensely interested in the work of the
Development Department. This department has been
responsible for the publication of The Second Century,
the library's award-winning newsletter, as well as A
Century of Service, a handsome brochure commemorating
the library's centennial. Many of the promotional
pieces the department has produced have won awards,
including the American Library Association's John
Cotton Dana Award.

The Development Department has been successful in
obtaining grant support for the library's program of
service. Of all the grants received the most
noteworthy is a $550,000 N.T.I.A. grant, which will
support expansion of the automation program and,
enabling the library to provide access to the Internet
at the branches as well as the main library.

Boyd's accomplishments cannot yet be summarized.
His work has just begun. It seems clear, however, that
he is creative, courageous, and committed to the ideals
of service that have guided the library throughout its

history.

30

HHHH EHA EHHH +++ HHHH ttt ttt
Bruce E. Ford has been employed by the Newark Public

Library since 1971. He is Assistant Director for

Access Services.

31